May 12-13, 2025

May 12, 7:30 pm: Cottiers
May 13, 1:15 pm: UNESCO-RIELA, “May Peace Prevail”, University of Glasgow
May 13, 7 pm, Refuweegee

Glasgow Production Manager: Bella Hoogeveen, UNESCO-RIELA

Directed by Jesica Garrou

Oud Player on the Tel aims to tell the story of how the founding of Israel on Palestinian land could have been a catalyst for peace, and instead became 75+ years of conflict into the war of today. Although very sensitive to the Palestinian narrative, it also shows how the Jewish people were "hanging by a thread" at that time, and points out that the British and, to a lesser extent America, played a role in beginning this ongoing conflict. The piece aims to educate, as well as open new doorways of understanding in a situation desperately in need of it.

Oud Player on the Tel grows out of more than two decades of Tom Block’s work at the forefront of the Palestinian-Israeli peace movement. He published Shalom/Salaam: A Story of a Mystical Fraternity (exploring the Islamic mystical influence on Jewish spirituality) in the USA and Turkey in 2010. He published a Jewish-Sufi quest novel which grew out of this research, The Fool Returns. He was one of two invited Jewish thinkers at the only interfaith conference ever held by al-Azhar University, Cairo)Oud Player on the Tel grows out of more than two decades of Tom Block’s work at the forefront of the Palestinian-Israeli peace movement. He published Shalom/Salaam: A Story of a Mystical Fraternity (exploring the Islamic mystical influence on Jewish spirituality) in the USA and Turkey in 2010. He published a Jewish-Sufi quest novel which grew out of this research, The Fool Returns. He was one of two invited Jewish thinkers at the only interfaith conference ever held by al-Azhar University, Cairo).

This presentation of "Oud Player on the Tel" includes five of the original cast members, who premiered the piece in New York City in November 2024, as well as the original director, Jesica Garrou and two local actors.

The play is part of the Fringe Programme of events around the UNESCO RIELA Spring School: The Arts of Integrating.

Rachid Halihal (Oud player and original score - recorded)

Mark Quiles* (Amir)

Mark Peters* (Melke)

Inji El Gammal* (Fatima)

Maya Koshaba* (Rashida)

Jennifer Tulchin* (Shoshana)

Kai Ross (Moritz)

Robert Cockburn (Mahmud)

* Member of American Actors Equity Association

Sound Designer: Oguz Kaplangi

Props and Scene Design: Henry (“Henri”) Garrou

Lighting Design: Ben Robb

Choreography: Hala Shah

Stage Manager: Deborah

Assistant Stage Manager: Hyab Johannes

“What a fantastic play last night, thanks for much for organising the event!  The actors did so well, especially considering some had less than a week to prepare. It communicated complicated history and emotion and managed humour and compassion too which is quite a thing to pull off.”
John Thorne, Sustainability Coordinator, Glasgow School of Art

“I enjoyed the ‘playfulness’ and light touch, difficult to combine with a weighty content. But it succeeded brilliantly.”
Anonymous Glaswegian